Chingford and Woodford Green is a constituency in North East

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represented in the

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of the

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by Sir Iain Duncan Smith of the

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since its creation in 1997.

Constituency profile

The seat covers the outer London commuter suburbs of Chingford, Highams Park and Woodford with high levels of owner-occupier housing, along with part of the Epping Forest. Once safely Conservative, the seat is now marginal with Labour due to young families and ethnic minority voters moving into the constituency.

Boundaries

The London Borough of Waltham Forest wards of Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hale End and Highams Park, Hatch Lane, Larkswood, Valley, as well as the London Borough of Redbridge wards of Church End and Monkhams have been selected to form the seat since inception. Out of 24 council seats that make up Chingford and Woodford Green the Conservatives hold 18 and Labour hold 5. The boundaries of Chingford and Woodford Green take in a large slice of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The constituency includes

Chingford Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow t ...

in the north bordering Enfield down through Highams Park and Hatch Lane into

Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping F ...

South Woodford South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-ea ...

and also takes in a part of the London Borough of Redbridge.

History

Before 1945, both Woodford and Chingford were part of

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

for general elections, for which wartime

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

was MP. The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the former seats of Chingford and Wanstead & Woodford. Both seats previously had well-known MPs, Norman Tebbit and Winston Churchill respectively.

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was ...

had been MP for Chingford since 1992, then was elected MP for this constituency five years later in 1997. ;Political history Chingford and Woodford Green and its predecessors have been solid

wards since the beginning of the Thatcher period in 1979. The closest contest in the 20th century was from the Labour Party at the 1997 general election, with a Conservative majority of over 5000; the Conservatives retained the seat in 2001 with a majority little changed on a low turnout. In 2005, the Conservative

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

did better, getting twice as many votes as Labour with a swing to the party of 6.4% (over double that nationally) from

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. The 2015 result gave the seat the 119th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. At the 2017 snap election, Duncan Smith was re-elected with a greatly reduced majority on a 7% swing to Labour, slightly more than a sixth of his 2010 margin; while this was in keeping with the large swings to Labour throughout Greater London at that election, it seems to suggest an increasingly

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

, even though the Conservatives hold three-quarters of the local council seats in the wards which make up the constituency. The 2019 general election saw the Conservatives retaining the seat, although with a smaller majority than 2017 due to a swing to Labour, despite significant movement against the opposing party nationwide.

Member of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes

References

Sources

Election result, 2005
(BBC)
Election results, 1997 – 2001
(BBC)

(Election Demon)

(Guardian)

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Chingford and Woodford Green
— presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chingford And Woodford Green (Uk Parliament Constituency) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997 Parliamentary constituencies in London Politics of the London Borough of Waltham Forest Politics of the London Borough of Redbridge Chingford